Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Tundra swans are on their way back to North America's high tundra, here stopping to rest a while before continuing their journey.

Swimming in a pond with Canada geese

Tundra swans eat aquatic plants, tubers and roots as well as shellfish. In some places they also eat grains they find on farms.

Four swans a-swimming and one goose

They look meek and mild but they can be ferocious if threatened.

We have three kinds of swans in Ontario. Many Mute and Trumpeter swans are here all year round, but these Tundras migrate between the Arctic and the Atlantic coast so will not be here very long.

Added later in responce to MB: Tundra swans do look a lot like trumpeter swans. One telltale sign on some
Tundra swans is the yellow teardrop on their eyes. They don't all have
the yellow teardrop though. It may be something that happens as the tundra swans age. Dunno. You can see the yellow teardrop on the lead swan in the first photo.

Monday, March 25, 2013

1. Largest square: Warmly dressed fishers
2. Swans in the water, gulls on the ice behind
3. Ice fisher not ready yet to give up his auger and fishing pole
4. Tree sparroe sitting amongst tree buds
5. dog and its family out for a walk
6. Bare branches, sunshine and clouds

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Small ducks, buffleheads are visiting Lake Ontario from the north. Isn't the male handsome?

At a distance, bufflehead males appear to be black and white, but up close and under the right conditions you can see the "black" is actually a glossy green/purple.

Female bufflehead

Females are less colourful but - to my eyes - still quite pretty. Both spend their winter days diving for aquatic invertebrates. Soon they will travel north to breed in northern forests close to lakes, often nesting in former holes created by northern flickers.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Winter? Spring? Some days last week I couldn't tell which season it was. It was Spring Break here in Ontario when school age kids were out & about and some parents were able to spend time with them instead of hiring a babysitter or sending them to daycare.

1. In the largest square: three generations enjoying wildlife along this urban woodland path.
2. Don't forget the ice: I had to smile when I saw this next to a marina. This time of year, how can any Ontarian forget about the ice?
3. Base of pine tree: I like the way snow melted first at the base of the tree and how the circle got bigger and bigger.
4, Red squirrel: saucy and cute...and yes, mischievous.
5. Moss-covered stump
6. Patches of snow creating interesting patterns as they melt

This is a memorial that marks a tragedy, an act of terrorism that happened off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985. The bombing of Air India Flight 182 killed 329 passengers and crew. Sadly, the act was planned on Canadian soil.

Another view of the sundial

Rocks from countries directly affected by the tragedy - every Canadian province and territory, Ireland, India, Japan and the United States - support the sundial.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Young gulls are just like human kids - always hungry. And the snow in this gull's beak is not satisfying it's hunger. A sign on the edge of the parking lot asks humans to please not feed the birds...and that includes gulls. But wait!

Surprise!

A baggy. Hmmmm.

Circling the baggy

Gulls don't need experience to know something tasty might be inside the plastic. They just know. However, this gull didn't know how to get the goodies out of the bag.

Totally frustrated gull

The gull shook the bag, put it down, picked it up, then shook it again...and again.